[callout font_size=”27px” style=”cherry”]Introduction to this Surah:[/callout]Relationship of this Surah with the previous surah (al-Falaq);1 – Min sharri haasidin idha hasad (From the Envier when he Envies) (al-Falaq 113:5)

Of all the creations of Allah, who is the most jealous against you (the believer)? It is Iblees, the shaytan/devil.

الشَّيْطَانِۚإِنَّهُلَكُمْعَدُوٌّمُّبِينٌ

– Shaytan, surely he is for you a clear enemy.(al Baqarah 2:168)

This surah protects us from the most jealous; min sharri al waswaas al khan-naas – from the evil whisperer as he withdraws..

Shaytan incites others to get jealous of the believers and to harm them.

So we recognize the outwardly problem mentioned in surah Falaq, but we get even more specific information as to the root cause of this envying problem – the shaytan himself who puts wawasa (whisperings) into the hearts of the people.

In surah Falaq, Allah protects us from harms outside evils.

In surah an-Naas – Allah protects us from evils which affect us inside ourselves. I.e. Whisperings which harm us inside, and might weaken our Emaan (Belief) due to doubts, or the whisperings enticing us towards evil.

Shaytan who is fee sudoor al-naas (in the chests of the people).

2 – In surah Falaq, there were evilswhich were harmful to us, but outside of our control.The one who did them evils against us (i.e. magic, envy etc.) would be sinful.

In this surah an-Naas, there are evils which are whispered to us. If we act upon them whisperings – which calling to evil actions – we will be the ones who are sinful.

So this is more of a desperate situation for our Emaan (beliefs), this is the greater Danger.

3 –

Surah Falaq: mentioned we would get harms in our Worldly Matters.

Surah an-Naas: mentions harms we would get in our Religious matters.

So we ask Allah’s protection alot more in this surah (an-Naas) – with alot more of His Names, in comparison to surah Falaq when Rabb is mentioned only once.

This shows there is more desperation for our religion in this surah.

Seeking Protection:

Who are you seeking refuge from?
(Musta’adh min hu)

Whose protection you are seeking?
(Musta’adhu bihee)

This surah has more emphasis on Seeking protection with Allah (Musta’adh bihee).

In comparison to the previous surah which had more emphasis on Seeking protection against evil (Musta’adh min hu).

So there is a recipocracy between these two surahs;

al-Falaq mentions Rabb (Lord) once, and many evils.
An-Naas mentions one Evil (wawasa/whisperings from shaytan), and mentions Allah many times.

[callout font_size=”27px” style=”cherry”]Ayah 1:[/callout]

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ

Qul aAAoodhu birabbi an-naas

Say, “I take refuge with The Lord of mankind,

Qul – Say.
The word Qul has a Literary rhetorical value in every context it is said in – throughout the Qur’an.

In the context of this surah; Allah wants the human to announce his weakness with his tongue. So Allah wants the human to say that he is weak, that he is helpless, and that he needs help from Allah who is greater than him.

An act of humility, powerlessness.

Because there are some humans are arrogant, their ego will prevent them from asking, and when they really need help – they might ask quietly; ‘will you help me?’

Allah is telling us to humble ourselves and ask Him out loud.

The word Qul (say) – removes arrogance and Istighna (thinking falsely you are self sufficient). Allah is removing every atom of pride in our heart.

Making this announcement out aloud, is done for many reasons. It removes;
– Your ego and self pride.
– Your false sense of ‘I don’t need protection’
Having a self sense of protection is a form of shirk.

But Moses said, “Indeed, I have sought refuge in my Master and your Master from every arrogant one who does not believe in the Day of Account.” [Ghafir 40:27]

That surah tells us that when someone has weak Emaan (Belief) of the Last Day, this is when their arrogance prevents them from seeking refuge in Allah sincerely.

This surah delivers punishments in the next life with the word Falaq against the arrogant who do sorcery and jealousy and they refuse to seek refuge.

O Allah, make us of those who seek refuge in you sincerely, humbly and in obedience.

Say (O Muhammad – specifically to him, and generally to the people); I humbly and sincerely go for protection of the Master of the People (al Naas).

Rabbu al Naas – Masterof the People.

Why Naas (People)? – because people are the ones who need protection in this surah from shaytan. It is like they are saying I seek refuge against evil from the One who has power over all the people’s matters.

Rabb – has several implications. Absolute Owner.

Rabbu ‘abdin, or Rabb al Bayt, Owner of slave or Owner of a house.

Maalik is also Owner.

So what is the difference between Rabb and Maalik?

Ownership is only one of the meanings of Rabb, whereas Maalik exclusively means Owner.

Rabb signifies Ownership.

Rabb signifies one main attribute of Being Master and therefore necessitating slavery.

But the main concept of Rabb is Him being the Master, and us therefore us being the slaves.

You might have something you own [Maalik], but you don’t have complete authority [Syed] over it (i.e. You might have a car, but you can’t drive as fast as you want in it – due to the laws of the country you live in.)
Allah has complete Authority and Ownership over His creation.

MuRabbi – it does not come from the word Rabb رب(Ra, ba, and ba [Muddaa’af]), but from the root letters; Ra, Ba, and Waw ربو.

My Lord, have mercy on my two parents, the same way they lookaftered me when I was small – kama Rabbanayaani sagheera (surah Israa’)

This comes from;
Rbw – Rab-baa. ربو
Rabba, yurabbee, tarbiyyah.

Tarbiyyahتربيه– to ensure the growth and maturity of something so it reaches the stage you want it to reach.

i.e. Watering a plant and giving it enough sunlight so it can grow to its maximum as to how you want it to be like.

Tarbiyyah (al ‘awlad); of a child is to give him a good physical and psychological upbringing, so he has good manners and health when he is a grown up.

This Rabb (Ra, Ba, Waw) is part of the main Rabb (Ra, Ba, Ba) – since the Master does grow us and provide for us until we reach the stage He has intended for us to reach.

So Allah being called Rabb, includes Him being Murrabi.
Raghib al Isfahani used a classical arabic theory;

If root letters are the last 2 letters, the ‘Ayn and Lam letter are the same, or there is a Naaqis[?] version. I.e. Shaqq (SHeen, Qaf, Qaf) and the other root SHeen, Qaf, Waw, if that happens – they can be considered similar or the same.
This theory is not universally accepted, but it is partially recognised.

So Imam Raghib inclined towards Rabb (ra, ba and ba) being similar or close to Murabbi (ra, ba, and waw).

Rabb is the super set. Rab-baa (MuRabbi) is the subset.

What does this imply?

The Owner, the Authority, the One who takes care of.

It is possible you own something (Maalik), you have authority over it (Syed), but you don’t lookafter it (MuRabbi). (i.e. your backyard – you might not even clean that).

But Allah does all of this for us.

Murshid – guides it to the right direction.

Mun’im – grants gifts. He doesn’t need to give us anything – rather – He is the Owner and gives us everything as a gift.
al Qayyim – the One ensuring the existence of the subject. I.e. We will only exist because Allah maintains our existence for us.

i.e. Imagine if we looked after a really delicate plant. If we stopped looking after it for a few hours only – it would die.
You are the reason for its continuing existence in this scenario, so you would be the qayyim.

Allah is al Qayyim for us all, we live on this planet which is in the middle of a chaotic universe, and we are protected from all sorts of harms. And Allah continues to provide for the humans – for thousands of years. When even one asteroid could destroy this planet and what is within it. But Allah continues to aid us, help us and protect us, like we are a delicate plant. And He gives us life uptill a set time.
Allah uses the word Rabb (Master) even before He mentions His Name Allah to;

– Prophet Muhammad: Iqra’ bismi Rabbik aladhee khalaq (surah ‘alaq 96:1) – Read, with the name of your Master.
So Allah said He is the Rabb/Master first, so that they have a connection first of being slaves to their Carer, and then knowing that this Carer and Provider is Allah/God Himself.

Similarly, Allah praises Himself in al Fatiha as the Magnified God, and then mentions that He is the Rabb/Master and Carer.

Then at the end of the Qur’an, He mentions in surah Ikhlas His Name Allah, and the two surahs’ after it (Falaq, and Naas) – He explains how He is the Rabb who protects His slaves.
This summarises the whole message of the Qur’an in one sentence;

1-Accept Allah as the Master, and accept yourself as His slave.
2-Accept this guidance is only beneficial to those who accept themselves as slaves.
Slavery and guidance.

The heart of the matter is that people recognise Allah is the Creator, and sometimes even that He is the Master – but they do not want to enslave themselves to Him.

To recognise that Allah is the Master means that we have to be the slaves. If we are the slaves, we have rules placed upon us – and this is why most people do not submit.

Those who do obey the Master – they have a lifelong struggle, but reward at it’s end. And those who do not obey the Master, they will be punished in the end.

In this surah, Allah asks us to seek protection in 3 of Allah’s names and attributes in this surah;

مَلِكِ النَّاسِ

Allah repeated – al Naas [the People] – 3 times, when He could have said; Rabbi al Naas (Master of the people), Maliki him (King of them), Illaahi him (God of them).

But instead He repeated – al Naas – three times.
Why did He do this?

Psychological Progression:

1 – People are in need of a Provider and Carer [Rabb]

A child has a primary need for a Murrabi (one who gives them a good healthy upbringing [tarbiyyah].)
A slave goes to the Master when he is in need.
An employee turns to their boss.

2 – But if the problem is not solved, the people go to someone who has greater authority;

The King (Malik).The government.

3 – If the king cannot answer your request, you have none of creation who can help you – so people pray to God (Illaah).

[callout font_size=”27px” style=”cherry”]Ayah 3:[/callout]

إِلَٰهِالنَّاسِ

Illaahi an-Naas

God of Mankind

Most people turn to their boss, owner, then the government, and then finally God.

Allah is telling us that the height of intellectual progression is to turn to Him fully.
So He is the true Master (Rabb), He is the true King (Malik), and He is the true God (Illaah) that you should turn to.

Prophet Ibraheem who fully internalised this – he was a man who turns to Allah for everything. He truly knew that Allah is the One who can only fix your problems

Musabbib-ul Asbaab(the provider of means).
Dr Faadil Hassaan ar-Ra’i:

The Aayaat progress from more in number, to less.

Rabb is the One who is a Master/owner of something and takes care of it and is concerned for it. And there are many owners in the world.

But for an0 – how many kings are they? There are less kings than the amount of owners.

But how many Illaah are they? One. There is only One true God. There are no worldly implications to the word Illaah (God).

And Pharaoh said, ‘O [members of the] council, I do not know of any god for you other than me. So kindle for me, O Hāmān, [a fire] over the clay, and bake for me bricks [of clay], and make me a tower, a lofty palace, that I may take a look at the god of Moses, to observe him and inspect him; for truly I consider him to be a liar’,

[al Qasas 28:38]

Pharoah declared himself to be Rabb (Master),Malik (King) and Illaah (god). And this is what Dajjal will claim to do too in gradual steps as his power grows.

That is what the waswasa/whisperings of shaytan can lead to a person to.

The Disease of Arrogance

The biggest fault of shaytan is arrogance. And this is what he wants to instill within us through his waswasa. And this is how Pharoah was led astray by him.

Today we are living in times where people claim to be their own Master, king, and their own god who makes the rules of haraam/halaal for them.

غِشَاوَةً فَمَن يَهْدِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ اللَّهِ ۚ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ

Have you seen he who has taken as his god his [own] desire, and Allah has sent him astray due to knowledge and has set a seal upon his hearing and his heart and put over his vision a veil? So who will guide him after Allah ? Then will you not be reminded?

[al Jathiyah 45:23]

We are living in a time where we are living in societies of people being mini Pharoahs. This ego problem is the root cause.

Shaytan recognises that Allah is the Creator (he said to Allah as mentioned in the Qur’an; khalaqtanee min-naar – You created me from fire) – but he wants people to forget that Allah created them. A clear example of that is Pharoah.

Naas has several meanings; and one of its root words isNasiyya – to be forgetful.

al Farraa’ – People forget the covenant they made with Allah, so they are called al Naas / Insaan – from Nasiyya – to be forgetful.

And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we have testified.” [This] – lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, “Indeed, we were of this unaware.” [A’raf 7:172]

He said, “Did you see when we retired to the rock? Indeed, I forgot [there] the fish. And none made me forget it except Satan – that I should mention it. And it took its course into the sea amazingly”.

When Pharoah saw that his authority was weakening, this is when he told his generals that he is a ‘god’. So they would incline to him (ilayhi).

When a king talks to his generals, he needs their obedience. Illaah is in this context.
Have you not seen the one who takes his desires as his Illaah (god)?

Desires:
Temptations, greed, haraam (forbidden) business money.

People follow their desires in greed, even in forbidden matters – making their desires a god.

So an Illaah is a god in matters of worship, but also obedience.

I.e. We might pray in ‘ibadah/worship, but even during the rest of our hours in life – we are ordered to remain obedient.

ar-Razi, az-Zamakhshari and otherssaid: Allah has honored humanity by placing His Name next to theirs; Illaahi al Naas (God of mankind).

It shows His concern for the human beings, and He is ready to protect the human being from whatever they seek refuge in Him and ask Him from.

So all these 3 aayaat have been Musta’aadh bi hee – entering into protection with Him (Allah).

Now the surah will go to Musta’aadh min hu (those who we seek refuge [in Allah] from:

[callout font_size=”27px” style=”cherry”]Ayah 4:[/callout]

مِن شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ

Min sharri al Waswaas al Khan-naas

from the evil whisperer as he steps back

Sa’eed bin Jubayr from Ibn Abbas who said;

Shaytan plants himself right above the heart of the human being, so when he becomes forgetful and careless – shaytan enters into his heart.

But when he remembers Allah – he leaves / retreats back / steps back (khan-nasa).

Why doesn’t he have a break from this?
He is working harder than any of us to throw us into the hellfire, so we need to work hard to remember Allah.
An Example of the Whispering Shaytan winning:

Shaytan incites people to get angry, because anger is a manifestation of the ego/arrogance.

When this occurs, we should say; a’oodhu billahi min ash-shaytan ar-Rajeem (I seek refuge in Allah from shaytan the rejected).

If a believer gets angry – he might not even seek refuge in Allah out of arrogance – so shaytan has succeeded twice.
It’s only if we humble ourselves by remembering Allah that shaytan steps back. And this requires effort against this whispering shaytan who wants you to remain angry and arrogant.

Allah is only suited for anger because His anger is based on Justice.
Hadith;

: ” مامنكممنأحدإلاوقدوكلبهقرينهمنالجن . قالوا : وإياكيارسولالله؟قال :

وإيايإلاأناللهأعاننيعليهفأسلمفلايأمرنيإلابخير . رواه مسلم (2814

there is not one of you except there is a constant partner [qareen] assigned with him

qaaloo wa anta ya Rasool Allah? – they said; and even you O Messenger of Allah?

qaala na’am, il-laa an Allaha a’nani alayhi fa la ya’murunee il-laa bil khayr (he said yes, except Allah has aided me against him and he never tells me anything except to do good).

[Sahih Muslim 2814]

Qareen – associate, typically a shaytan/devil. An exception to that was with the Messenger of Allah as described above. Whereas everyone else has a devil qareen/associate who tries to encourage the person to do bad.

Hadith 2:

The Messenger of Allah was walking at night and returning his wife Safiyya to her home.
Two companions from the Ansar (Muslims from Medinah) saw Allah’s Messenger.

So Allah’s Messenger tells Safiyya and the two men to stop. Then he tells them;
Innaha Safiyya bint Hayyiy – surely this is Safiyya the daughter of Hayyiy.

The companions said; Subhan Allah ya Rasool Allah! (Glory is to Allah O Messenger of Allah!) [i.e. why would we even think you are doing any evil?]

( إنالشيطانيجري منابن آدممجرى الدم

wa innee khasheetu an yaqdifa fee quloobikumaa ash-shay’a – i feared that he (shaytan) will throw/launch something in your hearts.

This shows that Allah’s Messenger feared that the people will have doubts about him and his message, and it ties in with what was mentioned of people questioning the Sunnah/practises of Allah’s Messenger.

This is waswasa of the shaytan against the Messenger of Allah.
Min al Jinnati wa an-Naas ([the whisperings] from the jinn and the people)

So the waswasa enters into the hearts of Muslims who do not remember Allah much, and they start to doubt Allah’s Messenger. If only they had remembered Allah – this waswasa (whispering) from shaytan would not affect them.

Accepting the Messenger – a human being – is hard for people to follow. This is waswasa from the shaytan. And this is what Allah’s Messenger feared for his ummah, because this is what the people of previous nations did.

Linguistic Definition:

Ayah 4 continued

Min sharri al waswaas al khan-naas

Min – from

Sharr:-
Sharr is the opposite of khayr (good). sharr is Universally known as evil, that which will cause someone harm.

Sharaara – a spark of flame that jumps out of fire and can harm you.
Sharr – An evil which can cause you harm.

Khannaas – its word pattern implies – a continuous doer. It is like the pattern Khabbaaz (bread maker), Wahhaab (Continuous Giver of Gifts), Ghaffaar (Continuous Forgiver) – this pattern shows that this is like a job, a profession to continuously do this job over and over and over again.

Khannaas – one who continuously steps back (and he only steps back after continuously coming forward too in his whisperings.)
His offense is Waswaas (whispering), and his defense is Khannaas (stepping back).

Allah began with us asking Allah humbly from the unseen dangers, and seeking refuge in him from the most arrogant (shaytan – iblis).

The summary of Qur’an is to enslave yourself to Allahso He will protect you;

Sadr is commonly translated as Chest.
Sudoor is the plural – chests (of the people).

Whispering in the chests is different to whispering in the heart.

Imagine this to Understand what is Meant;

The heart is like a castle, and around the castle is a field.

Shaytan is in the field – surrounding the castle – trying to find a way inside. But the heart/castle is locked.

The only way he can enter is if you open the heart/castle for him. If you humbly enter into Allah’s refuge (a’oodhu billah) – he will step back away from the castle, waiting again for another opportunity.

But if you let him in – he will cause you to distance from Allah.

See this comparison of when Shaytan enters, or does not enter your castle/heart;

People who have Emaan (Belief in Allah) – they love remembering Allah:

– We did make from the Prophets enemies from mankind and Jinn. [An’am 6:112]

The humans are mentioned in this ayah from surah An’am because men were the most clearest enemies against the human Messengers’.

In this surah – Jinn are mentioned first because;

1 – the Jinn have the primary role in the Waswasa (whisperings).
2- This job of Waswasa originally began from the Jinn and if people do acts waswasa [whispering evil to others], they are most likely imitating a Jinn devil/shaytaan.

Iblees can transfer his Waswasa to you through Jinn and humans.

He especially uses non Muslims.

I.e. Brother Nouman gives an example of; A guy who might go to college, and he tries to lower his gaze.
Suddenly, a non Muslim (or non Islam Practising) girl sees him, and calls him over to ask him if he’s done the homework assignment. They keep talking and he becomes attached to her.

Then when he is alone, he continues getting whisperings from the Jinn/shayateen – that he should be friends with her, and this progresses further into further forms of relationships.

The source is al Waswaas. If he had ignored it – he would not be advance into further haraam (forbidden things).

This is why bro Nouman reccomends you grow a beard, because anytime you’re going to think of being friends with the wrong people – you’ll feel ashamed when you see your face imitating Allah’s Messenger. That might stop you from doing evil.
al Farraa’ (one of the main arab linguists) says;- the word Nafarr نفر– is used to a group of people from among the Jinn. (in ayah 1 of surah Jinn).

But Nafarr is usually used for a group of humans.

The word Rijaal رجالis for men. But this is again used for Jinn (in surah Jinn 72:6).
Athar [report] Recorded in Baghawi:

The sahaba/companions of Allah’s Messenger saw some strange looking people and said;منالقومMan al Qawm? (who are you people? What nation do you come from?)

So they replied: ناسنمنالجنUnaasun min al Jinn – we are People from the Jinn (plural of Naas is Unnaas).
A group of minority scholars say that Naas in the last ayah (ayah 6) is explaining the word Naas in ayah 5 (of this surah)

So it is implying; those who whisper into the hearts of an-Naas (men and jinn).

The one who whispers into the hearts of Men AND Jinn.

az-Zamakhsari: The last word Naas is missing a Ya at the end.
Similar to when Allah said;

قَالَ ذَٰلِكَمَاكُنَّانَبْغِ ۚ فَارْتَدَّا عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِمَا قَصَصًا

Dhalika maa kunnaa Nabghi [Moses] said, “That is what we were seeking.” So they returned, following their footprints. [al Kahf 18:64]

NabghI (kasra/zeyr) [when a letter Ya should have really been placed at the end نبغي – but Allah ommits it for our easier recital (this is allowed in Arabic Sarf/morphology)].

Similarly, a Ya should have been placed at the end of the word Naas in this ayah, but it was ommitted. If it was not ommitted, it would be said;

ORIGINAL AYAH 5: aladhee yuwaswisu fee sudoori an-Naasiالناس– those who whisper in the chests of the people (Naasi).
AYAH 5 WITH the letter Ya يAdded; aladhee yuwaswisu fee sudoori an-Naasi[y]الناسي

Which would mean – those who whisper in the chests of the Forgetful ones (Naasiy= to be forgetful).

And the forgetful one can be from men and Jinn – who – when he forgets Allah – shaytan enters into his chest/heart.

Conclusion:

This surah is deeply connected with surahs; surahs’ Falaq and al Fatiha.

When Allah’s Messenger finished the Qur’an – he began reciting again with al Fatiha.

This shows that the Qur’an study never ends.

Similarities of an-Naas and al Fatiha:

1 – In surah al Fatiha – we ask Allah for isti’aanah (help/guidance), we are asking Allah to help us in guidance.

In this surah an-Naas we ask Allah for isti’aadhah(protection).
We are asking Allah to protect us from the one who is trying to prevent us from Allah’s guidance.

All the ayahs before it focus on why Allah should be worshipped, and the ayahs after it explain the guidance we should follow, and the ways we should NOT follow.
Surah an-Naas; This surah is also split into two halves;

-Who we should seek protection in [Allah]
-What we should seek protection from. [whisperings of shaytan].

8 – Allah told us to seek refuge in Him against Shaytan;

Allah told us to seek refuge in Him because it was due to the waswasa of shaytan that our parents Adam and Hawwa had to leave Jannah/Paradise.

The entire struggle against Muslims and the devils begins with the waswasa Iblees gave our father Adam.

The story of Adam is so important, that Allah has mentioned it 7 times in the Qur’an repeatedly; in surah al Baqarah, al A’raf, al Hijr, Israa’ and Kahf, Taha and Saad.

There is a reason which ties all the Qur’an together.

قَالَأَنظِرْنِيإِلَىٰيَوْمِيُبْعَثُونَ

– Qaala andhirnee yawma yub’athoon – he (shaytan) said give me respite/time/deadline until the day they are brought back.

قَالَإِنَّكَمِنَالْمُنظَرِينَ

– qaala innaka min al mundhareen(Allah said surely you are from those given respite)